Best Served Cold

A tale of black. sweet revenge. IchigoxRukia AU Inspired by Goku's Daughter's "I love" series.

Rated M

Disclaimer: all characters belong to Tite Kubo

The Final Chapter:

Ichigo & Rukia

In a hotel suite bathroom far, far away from The Vandenreich Manor and Schorfheide and the rain, she was willing herself to stop crying.

She was bruised. Her body ached with its pains and grievances and reprimands.

She was gripping a pregnancy test for dear life and staring at the two thin, matching blue lines.

It was undeniable.

She was pregnant.

Purple eyes looked up into a curious pair of honey-brown.

"Let me see."

She handed over the pregnancy test. Part of her wanted to laugh as he made a conscious effort to not touch the side she peed on. And when she saw his eyes soften, she began to cry in earnest again.

That sound, that deafening sound of a thunderstorm seemed to echo for an eternity in her head, over and over and over again.

With her eyes wide in horror, The Red Rabbit watched as the struggle between the two men ended. Neither of the killers moved, their bodies frozen in a time exclusive to them. Their expressions mirrored one another's: shocked, surprised…a glassy, distant look their eyes.

The .44 fell to the carpeted floor.

And Mr. Cinco's body followed, falling listlessly on its side.

Mr. Hollow's own staggering footsteps ended with a crash as well.

…If Mr. Hollow was dead…if Ichigo was dead, she was supposed to be running. Away from The Vandenreich, from Germay. To continue her life, a future without him… A possible future flashed in her head. A life that would have to guarantee safety, absolute isolation for two people…a life that would revolve around a child. A child that in the cruelest twist of fate would grow up looking and acting like a father it would never know.

If she was pregnant…if she was pregnant…

His shaky, bullet-wounded left hand, now with a gash across its palm, reached for the side of his mask, practically ripping it off his face to breathe. His inhales were greedy for air; his eyes were round. "…Rukia…" He called for her; fear tinged the sound of his name on her lips.

Like a moth to a flame, she ran to him.

Her hands groped his tattered suit. His hands and the crisp white dress shirt he wore…they were so…red, stained with blood, but she had never feared blood before and she wasn't going to start now. Her fingers ripped the material open, pawing his skin for the bullet hole.

She…she couldn't find a wound.

Ichigo was…he was safe.

He was alive.

And Mr. Cinco, dead, his life the biggest stain of red liquid on his carpet, the puddle of red liquid.

…There was nothing wrong in making sure.

She stood and grabbed Zangetsu by its handle, and walked over to the corpse that now stared through her with dead, mildly suprised brown eyes. Her hand grasped at the tendrils of his dull brown hair and tilted his head back, exposing the skin of his neck. She steeled her nerves for what she was about to do. And with one swipe, she turned Mr. Cinco into a PEZ dispenser..

She watched as the blood rushed out of him. She didn't dare blink as the blood, the blood of the man who had disrupted her world, sprayed across the front of her shirt and her face and ran down his own body.

Now she was satisfied.

Ichigo walked over, his attention on her steely expression. "You're bleeding."

She pressed her fingers on the side of her neck, where Mr. Cinco's sword and sliced her skin. She was bleeding, but she was alive. And he was alive.

They were alive. And Mr. Cinco was to never return.

She felt Ichigo's hand, his good one, envelop her shoulder. "Let's go…"

She stood and grasped for his hand, letting the warm of his palm envelop her.

Their footsteps never sounded louder or more triumphant against the marble floors of that corridor. The breeze that greeted them as they walked out The Vandenreich's doors never felt more welcoming.

And rain had never, ever in her entire life felt so comforting.

He buried his fingers in her hair, bringing her closer to him and planting a soft kiss on her forehead. "We're going to have a baby." He murmured with traces of a smile.

Him saying it made it truer to her ears. "We're going to have a baby." She repeated, feeling tears slip from the corners of her eyes.

They were going to have a baby. And it was going to be able to grow up safe. And happy and carefree. And a good person—a better person than what they were.

"…I want a girl."

She looked up at him to see that he was serious. He was, she could see it in his eyes.

"…I want a boy."

He grunted. "If we have a boy, he'll probably end up acting like me…I didn't like being away from my mom."

She smiled. "…We'll see what happens."

She wasn't sure if the pain of childbirth was, in fact, worse than the pain of death.

But, as the late afternoon sun made its way across their hospital room and she felt beads of sweat roll down her neck and back, it was close.

She screamed, something exhausted and unholy.

She didn't think she could last another second of this. Her gaze lifted heavenward and tears rolled down her eyes.

"Your cervix has dilated to about ten centimeters now. And everything has been a success up until now." Her doctor, Senjumaru Shutara-sama, was a beautiful woman who seemed to believe that being calm during dilation was a professional courtesy. Rukia was now appreciative and relieved that her doctor was now willing to set that aside in the last few moments of labor; the woman may have even broken a sweat. "All you have to do now is keep pushing, so when he tells you push, you push.

She nodded, squeezing her eyes tight.

She wanted to push now, but hesitated. She had done everything right until now; and their baby was almost here. Panic, bad memories, flooded in for a moment. Her hand gripped the closest thing in her grasp: Ichigo's hand. "Ichigo…Ichigo!"

"It's okay. I'm here. You're okay." He gripped her hand; his palm pressed against her stomach. He was dressed in scrubs and had a cap on his head. His orangey hair was still visible; he kind of looked like a clown to her. He looked ridiculous. His eyes were tight, but there was a brightness to them. He was just as excited as she was, as full of the same joy and fear as she was.

"Okay, Kurosaki-san."

Rukia gripped Ichigo's hand and he fed her the same amount of force, to say that she was okay, that he was here, and their baby would be here. "Push! Push!"

Nine months had passed like a dream. It came with the end of their old lives, a purification ceremony purposed by The Bard where they had worn white kimono and wrapped and buried their swords; the mask that made the killer Mr. Hollow and held the names of the killers that had wronged them had been burned in a pyre.

And Rukia couldn't really explain it, but even as she kneeled down in the cool night and allowed The Bard to pour water over her head, there was levity she couldn't entirely remember feeling before.

They stepped back in the world to blend in once more. Their new lives had come with a townhouse, something big and close by to a university with three rooms and a backyard and a park that was nearby. Their days sometimes consisted of going grocery shopping or walking around the park in the evening as other people leading their lives walked or ran around her. They allowed themselves to be familiar to their neighbors.

And it came with other, more familiar things: cravings for cucumbers and shaved ice and rice dumplings; mood swings that vacillated between absolute joy to absolute sadness to absolute fear. It came with movement from the life growing inside her, and doctor's appointments where they refused to know the baby's sex. They made a nursery; they bought what they needed. And it came with dreams almost every night, dreams of her and Ichigo standing hand in hand on the peaks of mountains, or the roof of skyscraper that overlooked an infinite city, all under a beautiful, clear sky.

Nine months had passed like a dream. And they were ready.

She pushed again and gave another scream that cut itself off as through her lips.

He grasped her hand again. "Just a few more! You can do it…just one more!" Her eyes were clenched tight, but she could hear his smile in his voice. "The head is crowning!"

That final scream was exhausting, strength draining.

But that's when she heard it: the cry of a child.

Their child.

She felt Ichigo move away from her to cut the umbilical cord. The sounds of the baby drowned out the directions Senjumara-sama murmured to him. She felt that severance, but she didn't panic; their child was here. She fought against her tiredness, opened her eyes, and lifted her head.

It was a blue blanket. Blue for their baby boy.

"Congratulations."

Her hands didn't hesitate to reach for the life being handed to her; her arms were already welcoming him before she knew it.

And he was so beautiful. Ten fingers, ten toes. The hair on his head was thick and black and wavy at the edges, his eyelashes long as well. His chest rose and fell; his cheeks were round like manju buns. She was in love with him already.

She held him close and his crying quieted.

"Let me hold him." Ichigo's arms curved to welcome him, a nook being made with his bicep. The look on his face as he looked at the newborn was warm. His finger gently traced the curve of his cheek, and he smiled as the baby stirred, his little fingers opening and closing.

And then slowly, his eyes opened.

Brown eyes, just like his daddy.

"…Tensa," Ichigo murmured quietly.

Tensa, "heavenly chain."

Kurosaki Tensa.

She liked it. "Tensa."

This would be their new chapter.

A new chapter. Their best chapter.

You know, there's a joke about Tensa Zangetsu I saw while writing this out: he's basically what Ichigo and Rukia's child would look like. I can totally see that.

And with this chapter "Best Served Cold" is at its end. I hope the ending for Chapter 9 was good. I wanted it to be as exciting as their fight with Grimmjow, but I like the Grimmjow fight better. Ain't nothing like a fight between Ichigo and Grimmjow Jagerjaquez, lol. Overall, I'm very happy with this fanfic. I wanted an IchiRuki fanfic under my belt and that's what I put out, and it was quick and sharp and full of action. I liked it and with this and "The LOVE that Bleached FIRE and ICE," I'm quite satisfied with my fanfic obsession with Bleach.

Thank you so much to everyone that supported it: lovemydogs82; Crystalline Arch; Insanity-Plus—you guys were into it from the beginning. Thank you so much!

xo,

the-lionness